PIRATE ISLAND FAMILY TRIP
PIRATE ISLAND FAMILY TRIP
Your trip in Madagascar
Saint Mary’s Island has everything to seduce you; superb beaches, a turquoise lagoon, wooded hills and storied rice fields, few vehicles and a well maintained network, a welcoming population that eats its fill.
This tongue of land lying 10 km from the east coast of the mainland is undoubtedly a small paradise that we will discover in the most beautiful way, by sea.
The east coast of Madagascar, particularly Sainte Marie Island and Antongil Bay, served as haunts for pirates who roamed the Indian Ocean.
The island of the forbidden and its pirate cemetery bear witness to this with the tombs engraved with crossed shins and moving epitaphs.
The Dutch, then the English and finally the French colonized this island in 1550, as it is ideally located on the route to the Indies.
You will therefore travel all around the island, favoring the east coast and its magnificent coral reef.
Starting at 800 € /guest
Your trip in Madagascar
Saint Mary’s Island has everything to seduce you; superb beaches, a turquoise lagoon, wooded hills and storied rice fields, few vehicles and a well maintained network, a welcoming population that eats its fill.
This tongue of land lying 10 km from the east coast of the mainland is undoubtedly a small paradise that we will discover in the most beautiful way, by sea.
The east coast of Madagascar, particularly Sainte Marie Island and Antongil Bay, served as haunts for pirates who roamed the Indian Ocean.
The island of the forbidden and its pirate cemetery bear witness to this with the tombs engraved with crossed shins and moving epitaphs.
The Dutch, then the English and finally the French colonized this island in 1550, as it is ideally located on the route to the Indies.
You will therefore travel all around the island, favoring the east coast and its magnificent coral reef.
Starting at 800 € /guest
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS

You leave Tananarive by the national road 2 which winds between the rice fields and climbing the hills, allowing to observe the landscape of the highlands until Manjakandriana. The route then descends the hills to reach the Indian Ocean. Visit the “butterfly farm” before reaching Moramanga for lunch. You then join the stage Andasibe, at the eponymous national park. The national park is home to many species of lemurs, birds, orchids and ferns. You will visit the lemur island and the crocodile park of the Vakona reserve.
Night: bungalows (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Transfer: Vehicle, 3h30, 170 km
Walking: +/-
You will leave early with a local guide to observe the lemurs accompanied by a botanical and ornithological discovery of the forest. The site shelters about sixty families of Indri-Indri, the largest of the lemurs since it can reach 70 cm. We can also observe 5 other species of lemurs such as “Fulvus”, “Hapalemurs”, “rubriventer” and a Varecia sifaka. After this ride of around 2 hours, a short transfer by road drops you off at the village of Ambavaniasa. The Vohimana experimental reserve is an initiative of a local NGO which is taking concrete actions in environmental protection, eco-village development and conservation in Madagascar.
The park is home to many species of lemurs, birds, chameleons, orchids and ferns. You have to walk an hour to reach the eco-tourist village made up of simple but clean and comfortable bungalows. The setting is splendid because it sits on the rocks of the cliff which dominates the valley and its canopy populated by birds and talkative insects. The river falls in cascades and offers some natural swimming pools suitable for swimming. Animation “Malagasy board game” to discover Fanorona, traditional game. The night tour, at nightfall, allows you to observe lemurs, amphibians and amphibians.
Diner and night at the place.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“single” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
Walking: +/- 3h00
Transfer: Vehicle, 0h45, 30 km
Breakfast at the ecolodge.
You will leave with a local guide to discover the site. Vohimana is home to an exceptional mid-altitude rain forest in terms of biodiversity with a myriad of amphibians unique in the world, orchids, medicinal plants and endemic birds, but also the largest and most beautiful lemurs in the country: the Indri-Indri and the tiara sifaka. It is not uncommon to come across researchers because the site is also designed for scientists. Return to the lodge and the asphalt road to resume the journey east. The picnic is planned on the way, towards Antsanpanana, the fruit showcase. You must then continue to Manambato to stop there in front of the large lake suitable for swimming.
Diner and night at the place.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“single” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
Walking: +/- 3h00
Transfer by car: 3h30
Breakfast at the hotel, then embark on a speedboat to cross the great lakes of the Pangalanes Canal and join the Palmarium private reserve. The morning will allow you to discover the reserve which reserves meetings with the not shy lemurs which populate it. You will meet a dozen species of lemurs evolving in full freedom in the reserve: Indri, Crowned Sifaka, Varecia, Sifaka … A rare and endemic terrestrial and arboreal fauna as well as a magnificent flora (orchids, carnivorous plants, ebony, mahogany, traveller’s trees), the most beautiful palm trees specific to Madagascar, including the rarest varieties. The Palmarium reserve is located on 50 hectares on the edge of Lake Ampitabe and the Indian Ocean, on the Pangalanes Canal. Return to the road to reach Toamasina in the afternoon and Mahambo and take a dip in the protected lagoon.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
Transfer by car: 3h30
Boat transfer: 0h45
Breakfast at the hotel.
You embark on a comfortable speedboat crossing to Sainte Marie Island, in the center of the island in Ambodifotatra, the « capital”. From there, a tuk-tuk race takes you to the beach, to reach your hotel in the south of Île aux Mattes by canoe. It only remains to dive in the turquoise water. After the nap of rigor, you will be free to practice snorkeling on this privileged spot.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
Speedboat : 3h00
Tuk-tuk: 12:15 a.m.
Pirogue: 0:30 a.m.
Discovery day of the Isle of Mats. This rounded island, roughly 5 km by 3.5 km, is like a postcard of the tropical Eden. Surrounded by a fringe of white sand, lush in devil, devoid of electricity and motor vehicles, the place really takes from the original paradise. A fairly populated paradise (800 inhabitants) in several villages and a few hotels scattered along the coast. Some families of lemurs live in the trees around your hotel.
In the morning, your guide invites you to cross the island to meet the locals on pleasant paths between cultures and scattered dwellings. On the hill, the “white house” offers a panoramic view of the island, completed by a visit to the Blevec lighthouse.
Lunch at the hotel and snorkeling.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
Walking: +/- 2h30
You leave the island of mats after breakfast thanks to the canoe which deposits you on the south beach of the big island to make an excursion along the west coast of the island using the services of several tk-tuks.
Heading north you will discover the “mora-mora” atmosphere of the Saintmariens to the village of Loukintsy (Louis XV in Malagasy) by taking the time to drink a soda, nibble on a fruit, any stop serving as a pretext to meet a population joyful and open.
You will have lunch in a charming lodge, the dining room of which is set on a rocky peak overlooking the panorama.
Don’t forget your fins, masks and snorkels, because the spot is a wonderful tropical aquarium!
In the afternoon, you will reach the east of the island to settle in the refined comfort of Boraha village and its superb pontoon which leads to the aperitif terrace on stilts. The color of the lagoon is exceptional, offering a shades of blue and green turning turquoise.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
Pirogue: 0:30 a.m.
Tuk-tuk: 0:30 a.m.
A boat trip is essential, but depending on the season, you will be able to discover the fabulous spectacle of the humpback whales (July, August) or, the other months of the year, to discover the seabed of the islets of the sands .
Two large schools of sand and coral in the middle of the ocean, bathed in incandescent turquoise waters and inhabited by only seabirds. On the program: lazing around, snorkeling and collecting shells.
This type of whale, “megaptera novaeangliae” has the particularity of feeding in cold seas and coming to breed in warm seas, as in Sainte-Marie, during the months of July, August and sometimes September.
The CETAMADA association has been present here for several years to study these marine mammals which are more and more numerous on the Malagasy coasts. Return to the hotel at lunch time. Free afternoon.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: Continental breakfast
After breakfast, the hotel team transports us by pirogue to Ambodifotatra, the “capital” of the island by an aquatic labyrinth which crosses the island in width under the branches of the mangrove and allows us to reach the Western coast.
The small town of Ambodifotatra is still dominated by the former India Company fort which cannot be visited due to military barracks. It is said that a tunnel would have connected the fort to the Isle of Forbidden, in the center of the bay.
A visit to the pirate cemetery provides an opportunity to dive into Malagasy history and the engraved graves bear witness to this glorious past. The canoe then drops you off at the foot of the Catholic church which dates from 1837, the oldest in Madagascar to take a stroll through the city center and have lunch there.
In the afternoon, go shopping with the artisans and return to the hotel on foot or by bicycle.
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: continental breakfast
Walk: +/- 1 hour
Breakfast.
Free morning in Boraha-village.
Transfer to the airport or to the city.
End of our services
Type of accommodation: in a bungalow (“comfort” category in DBL or TWN rooms with bathroom and wc)
Meals: continental breakfast
Walk: +/- 1 hour
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